#2 2008-06-27 10:33:26
"y'all"
Offline
#3 2008-06-27 10:48:40
Yeah, the apostrophe goes right after the y.
Back in my day, when we wanted a day off, we'd stage a "race riot." Seriously. They'd plan it a day or two in advance. Some of the white guys would pretend to brawl with some black guys; the school administration would freak out and send everybody home.
Those were the only instances in which virtually the entire student body (of around 1,400) a) was in on the conspiracy and b) acted in unison for a common goal. It was really amazing.
I recall this happening twice at my school; but word spread to other schools in the region and several of them also pulled it off.
Offline
#4 2008-06-27 11:20:32
y'all/ya'll
Nope.
I believe it depends on what part of the south one is from.
George Orr, we discussed this once on Cruel. I had a link [two or three computers ago]....
Offline
#5 2008-06-27 11:32:56
Fucking Wikidiots . . .
a stylistic choice distinct in tone (e.g., in intimacy, familiarity, and informality)
Example: "You all look tough, but y'all aren't!"
Y'all enables a quick three-syllable clause that is easier to say than "but you all aren't."
When in fact it should be:
"Y'all think you tough, but y'aint!"
Basically, anyone authoring or editing articles on Wikipedia shouldn't be commenting on redneck vernacular; nor should wiki entries on said dialects be used as supporting material.
Offline
#6 2008-06-27 11:36:50
Because it's "non-standard" English, it's not codified; but it's a contraction of you all, and when using a contraction the apostrophe goes where the letters are removed--e.g., don't for do not. That's why I insist that the apostrophe goes after the y. If that makes me Apostrophe Bitch, then so be it.
But points for using it correctly (second person plural, y'all, never singular!); so many Yankees don't.
Offline
#7 2008-06-27 11:59:00
George Orr wrote:
If that makes me Apostrophe Bitch, then so be it. ... so many Yankees don't.
Knock yourself out. I'll still use the same spelling.
Some places of residence in CONUS: Missouri [2], Louisiana [2], Georgia [2], North Carolina [3], West Texas\East New Mexico, Arkansas and others.
Yankee by birth For the most part, Southerner by choice.
Offline
#8 2008-06-27 12:10:43
George Orr wrote:
Because it's "non-standard" English, it's not codified; but it's a contraction of you all, and when using a contraction the apostrophe goes where the letters are removed--e.g., don't for do not. That's why I insist that the apostrophe goes after the y. If that makes me Apostrophe Bitch, then so be it.
But points for using it correctly (second person plural, y'all, never singular!); so many Yankees don't.
Y'all can go either way, all y'all is always plural. Y'all et yet? If you're going to argue that it can not be used except as a plural I know great gobs of Southern folk using it the wrong way. At least if you count Texas as being part of the South.
Offline
#9 2008-06-27 12:11:17
MSG Tripps wrote:
Yankee by birth For the most part, Southerner by choice.
Yeah that ain't how it works.
Offline
#10 2008-06-27 12:23:32
Fuck all ya'll
Offline
#11 2008-06-27 12:25:04
Up here in Canada we spell it "u-haul" and pronounce it "ighrkzk."
There's a wiki on it here.
Offline
#12 2008-06-27 12:25:57
ain't how it works
Works for me; why should I give a fuck about your ideals?
Last edited by MSG Tripps (2008-06-27 12:27:28)
Offline
#13 2008-06-27 12:54:36
hedgewizard wrote:
If you're going to argue that it can not be used except as a plural I know great gobs of Southern folk using it the wrong way. At least if you count Texas as being part of the South.
Texas is not part of the South. Texas is Texas, and a fine place (in parts).
No kudzu + insufficiently sweetened iced tea = not the South.
Offline
#14 2008-06-27 14:59:04
The Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 11th Edition spells it "y'all" identifying it as a variation of "you-all". Growing up in Arkansas, we always spelled it "y'all".
As to matters of Southern citizenship, I fully believe anyone can become a Southerner just as one can become an American. People can also lose their citizenship. Although I regard myself as a Southerner, I frequently have to convince others when I am back in the South that I am one of them. This leaves tremendous scars on my psyche.
And Texas is not, as a matter of fact, a part of the South although as Australia is to Britain, it is culturally related.
Offline
#15 2008-06-27 15:45:17
Why don't we just have Decadence explain it for us? I'm sure there's a hyphen in there somewhere that we're all missing.
Offline
#16 2008-06-27 16:35:50
George Orr wrote:
Texas is not part of the South. Texas is Texas, and a fine place (in parts).
No kudzu + insufficiently sweetened iced tea = not the South.
Texas was part of the Confederacy; therefore it’s part of the South. If the lack of kudzu bothers you, a few cuttings or seeds will take care of that in very little time.
Last edited by fnord (2008-06-27 16:36:23)
Offline
#17 2008-06-27 16:54:40
fnord wrote:
Texas was part of the Confederacy; therefore it’s part of the South. If the lack of kudzu bothers you, a few cuttings or seeds will take care of that in very little time.
But Kentucky was not, and yet it's still a Southern state. Based on that logic, the Philippines would still be part of the United States and California would belong to Spain. Texans are a completely different ethnic/racial group which is best quarantined and left to their own devices.
Offline
#18 2008-06-27 17:02:04
best quarantined and left to their own devices
Some people feel the same way about folks from the Ozarks.
Offline
#19 2008-06-27 17:02:34
fnord wrote:
Texas was part of the Confederacy; therefore it’s part of the South.
Speaking culturally rather than historically, and 100+ years on from the Civil War, those old battle lines aren't really relevant any more. For example, the Florida peninsula is not part of the South (though most of the panhandle appears to be). It has an overwhelmingly Yankee population. Its local culture is NOT Southern.
Likewise, Atlanta, while located smack-dab in the heart of the Old South and largely populated by geographical Southerners, has transformed into a bland generic American Big City. It does not have a Southern culture.
Don't even get me started on Hilton Head. I pray for a Cat 5 hurricane to wipe that blot from the Earth.
If the lack of kudzu bothers you, a few cuttings or seeds will take care of that in very little time.
Don't think I haven't considered it...but I'm afraid that if I were caught they'd make me guest of honor at a Texas necktie party.
Offline
#20 2008-06-27 17:03:34
MSG Tripps wrote:
best quarantined and left to their own devices
Some people feel the same way about folks from the Ozarks.
And they would be correct. I know my relatives.
Offline
#21 2008-06-27 17:07:51
my relatives
I might have had a beer [or more] with some of them.
Offline
#22 2008-06-27 19:38:56
Offline
#23 2008-06-27 19:40:05
I'm from Tennessee, and it doesn't get more 'southern' than that.
It's y'all.
Offline
#25 2008-06-27 20:19:09
whosasailorthen wrote:
I'm from Tennessee, and it doesn't get more 'southern' than that.
It's y'all.
What's your take on the singular/plural question?
Can we substitute pinche gringo for Southern in this discussion?
Offline
#26 2008-06-27 20:38:42
Ex: AZ = y'all. LA = y'awl. TX = ya'all.
The variance is not only regionality but education (which is, almost invariably, tied to region as well). My spelling of the Texas twang is an artificial elongation of the vowel, where most accents reside. Pronunciation resides in the upper or lower part of the mouth, depending. Regardless, other regions share it. "Y'all" is curt and rolled. "Y'awl" is low and guttural (like "Nawlinz"). "Ya'all" has a definitive second syllable. These are nothing more than graphic representations of the same idea. Colloquial Familiar is dirtspeak. American Southerners may take pride in the dialect, but in its truest form it confers nothing but ignorance. [/pedantry]
Offline
